Streaming chloroplasts [Cellebration, part III: organelle dynamics, part 11]

Many plant cells have extensive cytoplasmic movements, which transport organelles from one region of the cell to another. Rotational streaming is seen in the cells of the common freshwater plant Elodea, and chloroplast movement is quite dramatic. In these leaf cells the rotation is induced by light, and chloroplasts will move around the cell only while the cell is illuminated. In Elodea the chloroplasts move in conjunction with the streaming, fluid endoplasm, which presumably contains myosin. This endoplasm flows along the cortical ectoplasmic layer, which is more gel-like, and which contains bundles of microfilaments. Chloroplasts are not the only organelles to be moved by these cytoplasmic rotations; also visible are numerous small mitochondria, and refractile crystalline granulesEnsino Médio::BiologiaComponente Curricular::Educação Superior::Ciências Biológicas::Biologia Gera